Improved street-railway



W. M. SMITH.V

Elevated Railway.

No. 93,361. Patented Aug. 3,1869.

.f 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

N. PETERS, FhamLimagmpher. wnshingnm D. C.

W. M. SMITH. Elevated Railway.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

No. 93,361.. Patented Aug. 3, 1869.

TENT ICE* WILLIAM M. SMITH, OF AUGUSTA, GEORGIA.

llVl PROVED STREET-RAI LWAY.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 93,361, dated Augnst'S,1869.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM M. SMITH, of

the city of Augusta, in the county of Richmond and State of Georgia,have invented a new and Improved Elevated Railway, for the purpose ofsupporting one or more endless cables or chains, to be propelled bystationary engines, by which carriages, canal-boats, and other burdensmay be propelled, as particularly shown in its application tostreet-cars in the following. specification, and the drawingsaccompanying the same. l do hereby declare that the following is full,clear, and explicit description thereof, which will enable those skilledin the art to build and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specication, of which-Figure l is a plan; Fig. 2, an elevation; Figs. 8, 4, 5, 9, 10, and l1,details on an enlarged scale; Fig. 6, a perspective view of frame-worksupporting the railway; Figs. 7 and 8, elevation of frame-work.

This Qivention relates to a new and improved method of transmittingpower from stationary engines to an endless cable, passing directlyabove the center and along the entire` length of parallel, circular, orirregular street-railroads, or wherever the constant presence of activepropelling-power is desired along the entire length of onev or morelines, or between two or more given points, whereby burdens varying incharacter may be attached and detached therefrom at will. Conductors ofstreet-cars may also cause the same to be propelled thereby, andcontrolled with greater ease than when drawn by horses. This method ofdrawing street-cars, if adopted, will secure to the public a safe andrapid mode of transportation, and save to the numerous street-railroadcorporations an incalculable amount of money now expended in thepurchase and feed of horses, besides the enormous loss sustained to themin the rapid depreciation of the value of their horses, by reason of thevery excessive labor requiredof them. l

This invention can be used as well for propelling canal-boats asstreet-cars; also, in the transportation of goodsand passengerssuspended to each cable-carriage, and in the excavation of canals,railroads, and other purlor top view of one section of my invention,

turning a right angle or street-corner, and the beginning of anothersection of the same.

The dark-blue lines A in Fig. l represent two parallel railroad-tracks,built on the@ ground, for the use of street-cars. Y

Directly above the center of each of said tracks is suspended to thearched cross-beams B, supported by columns C, an endless elevatedrailway, constructed with an open center, and fully indicated by thelight-blue lines l), traversing the entire length of section E in Fig.1.

The red lines F represent an endless cable or chain, passing through theupper end or heads G of' the cable-carriages G, and rigidly fastenedtherein, allowing an equal distance between the differentcable-carriages.

The cable-carriage G is made with two pairs of wheels, the axles ofwhich are rigidly fastened and revolve with the wheels. In the middle ofeach of said axles is turned out a recessed bearing, to which isadjusted theperpendicular end of aright-angled bar. Said pairs of wheelsmust be adjusted to said angled bar one above the other, and ofsufficient distance apart to admit the rails of said elevated roadbetween the wheels of the upper'andnether pair, without touching thewheels 4of the netherv pair when the carriage G is restingl uponthe'surface of said elevated track. Theface of said wheels should bemade broad when the track is laid with cable-rails, and the' flanges' ofthe upper and nether wheels in all cases should not be more than oneinch apart.

Near the horizontal end of said angled-bar is attached theextension-ring O, which will' be described in its proper connection.

The cable-carriages G are so constructed j that when propelled by theendless drivingchain H, (seen in Fig. 2,) any street-car adapted to theuse of this device, and filled with passengers, may be attached to anyone of the ypassing cable-carriages, and detached therefrom by theconductor at will without any injurious 'shock either to the movingcable or car, all of which is more fully represented in Fin, 2 by theletters I, J, K, L, M, N, 0, Q, and It.

I represents the body of a street-car, at tached to one ot' thecable-carriages Gr.

J indicates elevated spring drawbars, attached thereto.

A large wheel, K, is Xed to an axle, which revolves in the elevated endof each of said draw-bars. On the end of each of said axles isrigidlyfastened the spur or ratchet wheel L, as seen in Fig. 2. Immediatelyunderneath each of said ratchet-wheels is a small tube, (marked M,) madeat the end and in the edge of the elevated end of said draw-bar J.Within each of these tubes is a pawl, which holds the wheels L and Krigidly in one position by means of a spiral spring arranged within saidtube and acting against said pawl.

N indicates a rod or cord, attached to a projection of the pawl in tubeM.`

When it is desired to attach the car to the moving cable F the pawl intube M must be allowed to fasten the ratchet-wheel L, and the eitensionspringring` O, attached to each cable-carriage, as indicated in Fie'. 2,will rigidly fasten itself to one ofthe curved arms of the wheel K.

The eXtension-sprin g draw-bar J and the extension sprin g-rin g O willovercome the shock which would otherwise be produced by the suddenfastening of a standing car to a moving table.

When a car is desired to be stopped to take on passengers, it is onlynecessary to disengage the pawl in tube M from the ratchet-wheel L bymeans of cord N, and allow the wheel K to revolve whenever theextension-ring O, suspended from each cable-carriage, shall strike thearms of the same.

O indicates a spring extension-ring, and the method of applying it tothe cable-carriage G.

Q indicates a hollow cylinder, containing two rods, with a spiral springaround each of them, which can be fully understood by reference to Q inFig. 3. Said rods are firmly attached to the middle slide, 7forming partof the extension spring draw bar J. Said spiral springs serve the doublepurpose of holding up the elevated ends ofthe draw-bars J,\and 'at thesame time preventing the forward draw-bar from lifting the front wheelsofV the car from the track, when the same is suddenly fastened to ahiglrmovin g cable, by forcing it to commence pulling at lthe top of therear end ofthe car first.

R indicates a rod at each end of car I, which guides the extensiondraw-bar when suddenly loosed from the moving cable back to its place inthe center ofthe front end of the car.

. The cableguide drums S in Fig. 1 have formed upon the periphery of`each a number of grooved teeth, shaped like the ordinary crosscnt-sawtooth, and properly spaced, for the reception between the teeth of theangled cable-heads G while the carriages Gr are passing the angles andsectional ends of said elevated road, thereby preserving to saidcarriages an undisturbed forward movement, and at the same time thegrooved teeth are supporting and guiding the endless cable.

The cable-carriage Gr in Fig. 5 shows in.

detail the carriage designed to be used on the said endless road.

The object of the pair ot' wheels on each cable-carriage, underneath therails of said elevated road, is to prevent the cable from elevating thecarriages G from the track while running over uneven grades, as the saidendless elevated road, when built for drawing streetcars, must, ofnecessity, be parallel to the tracks below. Therefore the nether wheelsof the cable-carriages will run on the under side of said elevated trackwhen passing over depressions in the grade.

A simple ring, P, as shown, attached to cable-carriage G in Fig. 5, maybe used in stead of the extension-ring O.

The endless driving-chain H in Fig. 2 must be of sufficient length toalways have at least one of the heads G of cable-carriages G among thedriving-links of the same.

Thelinks of this driving-chain are made with deep walls on either side,with a partition near the center of `each link, anda recess formed inthe middle of the same, in order that the endless driving-chain H willpull directl y and equally against the heads GJ of carriages G, all ofwhich is fully shown in Fig. 9.

The` carriages G must be rigidly fastened to the endless cable F, atequal distances apart, and at such intervals as will allow the head G ofeach of said carriages to pass properly in front of the recessedpartition of one ofthe driving-links of the endless chain H. a i

II in Fig. 9 shows the driving-shaft of the endless chain H. l

V in Fig. l indicates the bearing supporting the shafts carrying thedriving-chain II.

W in Fin'. l indicates the beginning of the second section ofthe saidelevated railroad.

Fig. 6, 011 Sheet No.2, shows the plan of frame-work to be adopted inbuilding said elevated road, when it is desired to have the samesupported on two columns.

The cross beam in Fig. 6 must be made (similar in structure to thecross-beam in Fifr. 7) with thin deep walls, narrow closed top, openunderneath, having what is known as a square brace extcndin g from eachsupporting-` column, and attached to and supporting said beam -where theouter edge of each outside hanger supporting said elevated road isfastened to said cross-beam. l

No special plan for building the columns supporting said cross-beam. Thecolumns must be planted in the ground at the curb-` stone, on each sidethe street, where the said elevated road is built. v

When said road is built in parallel` lines along the same street, saidcross-beam must have attached thereto two single and one center ordouble hanger.

Each of said hangers must have a short pro.-

jecting angle, of sufficient length only to allow the wheels of`carriages G freely to pass the arm and the projecting end of each hanger.

Said hangers must be so attached to said cross-beam, in pairs, thattheir projecting angles will allow the track of said elevated road to belaid with an open center.

Z in Figg represents a circular clamp, showing two cables held rigidlyparallel to each other. Such clamps must be used when said elevatedtracks are laid with cable-rails, in or` In laying said elevated trackswith cable# rails it is designed to havethe hangers on cross-beams B',to which the 4cable-rails are fastened, made with circular recessedends, as indicated by the red marks below and above cable D', as seen,resting in the end of hanger Y, so that when the cable-rail is fastenedto the hanger Y by clamp G and draw-key K, in Fig. l1, solder or othermetal may be poured into the hole in the clamp C, (represented by theround red spot in the center thereof,) until the circular recessed endof hanger Y and the irregularities in the cable-rail are filled, therebyforming a fastening which will not permit the cable-rails to sliptherein, besides affording a quick and safe mode of laying said elevatedroads.

The method of fastening cable-rails with solder or other metal isdesigned to be adopted in fastening the endless cable F in the heads ofG of every cable-carriage used for the transportation ofthe same.

Fig. 7 shows the plan of frame-work for said elevated road when it isdesired to have but one supportin g -column to each span of the same.

The single column, supporting crossbeam and hangers, in Fig. 7, whenused in building said elevated road, must be planted iirmly in theground midway between the two tracks built on the surface, so that thecenter of the tracks above will stand perpendicular to those below. Thesame relative position of the upper and nether tracks must be observedin all cases, whether said elevated road is supported by single ordouble columns.

The braces, hangers, and cross'beam of the single column in Fig. 7 aresubstantially the same as described in Figs. 6 and l1.

A in Fig. l() isthe end of two rails united. Said rails are made thesame as cross-beams B2, but not so heavy, and are intended to be usedfor said elevated road when the cable is not adopted for that purpose.

Fig. 4 is a front view of the spring-extension draw-bar J. It is madewith two slide-frames, fitted one within the other, havingA openedcenters and closed ends. The springs are placed one above another untilthe open centers are filled.

In the top of the middle slide is situated the wheels K and L. The topspring is firmly held to its place by the outer slide, the lower end ofsaid slidebeing fastened to the'platform or other part of the car.

There must be placed underneath the bottom spring and lower end of themiddle slide-A frame an india-rubber spring, to overcome the shock whichwould occur when the extended draw-bar is loosed from the moving cable.

When the cable-carriage is attached to the wheel K the middle slidecompresses the springs until the traction is overcome.

The extension-spring ring O is made in the same manner as the draw-barJ.

X in Fig. 1 indicates the space between two sections of the road.

T in Fig. 2 represents a vertical shaft geared to the driving-shaft ofchain H, and propelled by a stationary engine under ground.

T in Fig. 1 shows the proper location for another stationary engine whenthe said ele vated track is laid in sections.

When the said elevated track is laid in sec; tions, it will be necessaryto have proper deA scending grades underneath every interval be tweensections, so arranged that the car on each track will, of its ownmomentum, pass to the track of the cable-carriages of the next section.The same will have to be done where the tracks cross each other.

Double street-railroad tracks must be laid at their' terminus, so thatthe cars arriving will pass to the return-track, in order that thereturning spring extension-ring O may fasten itself to an arm of wheel Kin the rear extension draw-bar J, thereby starting the cars on itsreturn trip at once.

The said elevated road can be suspended from the houses on either sideof streets over which the same is built.

I do not confine myself to stationary steam power for propelling saidvendless cable, but will use water-power when it can be made available,substantially as herein set forth, with regard to stationarysteam-power.'

vWhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is-

l. An endless elevated railway, consisting of two separate rails or wirecables, properly supported by elevated frame-work, and carr ing thecarriages G, which are adapted to be connected to the car running on thetrack below, the carriages being connected by a cable and propelled bystationary engine or engines, all arranged and operating substantiallyas and for the purposes set forth.

2. The peculiar construction of the carriages G, with upper and lowerwheels, with a suit-l ableprojection above for the attachment of thecable and the arm which connects with the car, all constructed andarranged to operate as and for the purposes set forth.

3. In this described railway, the endless drivingchain, arranged tooperate as described, and adapted to the peculiar construction ofthecable-carriages, as and for the purposes set forth. a

4. The hanger Y, clamp C, and key K, constructed and appliedsubstantiallyr asand for the purposes set forth.

5. The clamp Z, formed and attached to the cable, substantially as andfor the purposes set forth. Y 4

p, 6. Also, one or more spring-extension drawbars, arranged to act inconnection with the carriages G, as and for the purposes set forth.

7. In combination with the extension'dramv` bars, when arranged on theplatformof the car, the extension-spring Q, as and for the purposes setforth.

8. The extension springring O, operating in connection with thecarriages Gr and car, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

9. The wheel K, ratchet-wheel L, and paWl` M, substantially as and forthe purposes set forth.

10. In the described railway, the guide-drum `S, adapted to thecarriages and cable, sub-

